Want to know what books Michael Dillon recommends on their reading list? We've researched interviews, social media posts, podcasts, and articles to build a comprehensive list of Michael Dillon's favorite book recommendations of all time.
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Eastern Turkestan, now known as Xinjiang or the New Territory, makes up a sixth of China's land mass. Absorbed by the Qing in the 1880s and reconquered by Mao in 1949, this Turkic-Muslim region of China's remote northwest borders on formerly Soviet Central Asia, Afghanistan, Kashmir, Mongolia, and Tibet, Will Xinjiang participate in twenty-first century ascendancy, or will nascent Islamic radicalism in Xinjiang expand the orbit of instability in a dangerous part of the world? This comprehensive survey of contemporary Xinjiang is the result of a major collaborative research project begun in... more Eastern Turkestan, now known as Xinjiang or the New Territory, makes up a sixth of China's land mass. Absorbed by the Qing in the 1880s and reconquered by Mao in 1949, this Turkic-Muslim region of China's remote northwest borders on formerly Soviet Central Asia, Afghanistan, Kashmir, Mongolia, and Tibet, Will Xinjiang participate in twenty-first century ascendancy, or will nascent Islamic radicalism in Xinjiang expand the orbit of instability in a dangerous part of the world? This comprehensive survey of contemporary Xinjiang is the result of a major collaborative research project begun in 1998. The authors have combined their fieldwork experience, linguistic skills, and disciplinary expertise to assemble the first multifaceted introduction to Xinjiang. The volume surveys the region's geography; its history of military and political subjugation to China; economic, social, and commercial conditions; demography, public health, and ecology; and patterns of adaption, resistance, opposition, and evolving identities. less 
Michael DillonWell I picked this because it is a modern and fairly comprehensive study of Xinjiang and because in many ways it echoes the work that Lattimore did in the 1950s by getting together a group of people in a workshop and providing them with the kind of resources that only the United States can manage. I think there a dozen or so authors and, between them, they have looked at the same kind of issues... (Source)
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This book provides a detailed study of Sinkiang China's largest province, and of great strategic importance on the Russian border during the Warlord and Kuomintang Eras. It is an analysis of the internal warlord and Islamic politics of Sinkiang, as well as to take account of 'great power' interests in this region, during a period in which it was essentially a Han Chinese colony in the heart of Central Asia. The study is of relevance not only to the history of twentieth-century China, but also to the politics of Islamic reassertion in Central Asia; to the development of the Soviet Union as an... more This book provides a detailed study of Sinkiang China's largest province, and of great strategic importance on the Russian border during the Warlord and Kuomintang Eras. It is an analysis of the internal warlord and Islamic politics of Sinkiang, as well as to take account of 'great power' interests in this region, during a period in which it was essentially a Han Chinese colony in the heart of Central Asia. The study is of relevance not only to the history of twentieth-century China, but also to the politics of Islamic reassertion in Central Asia; to the development of the Soviet Union as an imperial power in the Tsarist Russian mould; to an understanding of the cultural and political aspirations of China's national minorities; and should serve - in a world preoccupied with 'Western' colonialism and imperialism - as a reminder that colonial kin and imperialism was not, and is not, an exclusively European preserve." less Michael DillonWell, yes, it was a very important study. I think there’s a pattern emerging here because Andrew Forbes was also at Leeds University. This book was published in 1986 and it was really, following Lattimore, the first attempt to try and write a political history of the Republican period (1911 to 1949) in Xinjiang from a historian’s point of view rather than as a historical geography or an area... (Source)
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Michael DillonGunnar Jarring again is someone who had experience in Xinjiang and the surrounding area from 1929 onwards. He was an internationally respected Swedish diplomat who held ambassadorial posts all around the world, including a key appointment at the United Nations. However, at the same time he carried on with his scholarship in what we would call today Uyghur studies, although the word Uyghur was not... (Source)
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Michael DillonWell whereas Inner Asian Frontiers examines the whole Inner Asian region from Manchuria right round to Tibet, Pivot of Asia concentrates on the question of Xinjiang which was thought in the 1940s and 1950s to be one of the most significant issues in Asian geopolitics. It’s very interesting that it then lost prominence and people stopped thinking about the region until the 1980s or 1990s. But the... (Source)
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This book, first published in 1940 by the American Geographical Society in its International Research Series, has remained the classic study of the Central Asian region of China from ancient times to the period immediately prior to World War II. In particular, Lattimore examines the effect of the region's frontier status on its history and development. The book is based on extensive travel and research throughout the region as well as on exhaustive reading in Chinese, Russian, Mongolian and English sources. more This book, first published in 1940 by the American Geographical Society in its International Research Series, has remained the classic study of the Central Asian region of China from ancient times to the period immediately prior to World War II. In particular, Lattimore examines the effect of the region's frontier status on its history and development. The book is based on extensive travel and research throughout the region as well as on exhaustive reading in Chinese, Russian, Mongolian and English sources. less Michael DillonHe was a writer who was respected in the 1930s and 1940s. He was the editor of the Pacific Affairs, an influential journal, and he was an influential commentator on Asian affairs. What impresses me is the breadth of his knowledge of Asia, his knowledge of Asian languages, his knowledge of Asian culture, and his ability to relate to people living in the region. However during the 1950s he suddenly... (Source)
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